Comprehension: Poetry Set 4
Comprehension: Poetry Set 4 offers further unseen poetry comprehension practice for GL Assessment and CSSE-style papers, this time based on a poem about climbing a mountain, testing understanding of meaning, structure, rhyme and figurative language.
Before you start
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Method
- Read the poem through once to follow the journey or events it describes, then reread it slowly for detail.
- Consider how the poem's pace changes: longer, flowing lines can suggest steady movement, while short, broken lines can suggest struggle or exhaustion.
- Check the poem's structure, including how many stanzas there are and whether the rhyme scheme (if any) stays the same or changes.
- Identify similes, metaphors and personification, working out exactly what feeling or comparison each one is meant to create.
- When answering an 'effect' question, always connect the technique back to what the reader is meant to feel at that point in the poem.
- Compare the beginning and end of the poem to see how the speaker's feelings or situation have changed over its course.
Worked example
Extract from a poem: 'The mountain does not care that my legs are shaking, / it simply waits, patient as stone.' Question: Explain the effect of personifying the mountain as 'patient as stone'. (3 marks)
- Identify the technique: this is a simile combined with personification, comparing the mountain's patience to stone while giving it a human quality of waiting.
- Note the contrast set up in the first line: the climber's legs are 'shaking' (weak, struggling) while the mountain 'does not care'.
- Consider what 'patient as stone' suggests: stone is unmoving, permanent and unbothered by time, unlike the tired climber.
- Explain the effect on the reader: the mountain feels indifferent and immovable, which emphasises how small and effortful the climber's struggle feels by comparison.
- Final answer: The simile 'patient as stone' presents the mountain as indifferent and unmoving, contrasting sharply with the climber's shaking legs, which emphasises how difficult and personal the climb feels against the mountain's calm, unbothered permanence.
Practice questions
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Q1'The mountain does not care that my legs are shaking.' Which two words describe how the climber's legs feel?Show answer
Answer: 'are shaking' (trembling with tiredness or effort).
Q2How many lines are quoted in 'The mountain does not care that my legs are shaking, / it simply waits, patient as stone'?Show answer
Answer: Two lines.
Q3True or False: a simile always uses the word 'like' or 'as' to make a comparison.Show answer
Answer: True.
Q4'The path unrolled ahead like a ribbon of grey stone.' Name the simile in this line.Show answer
Answer: 'like a ribbon of grey stone'.
Q5'The summit finally offered its view as a reward.' Explain what is being compared to what in this personification.Show answer
Answer: The summit is compared to a person or figure offering something; the view is compared to a prize or reward being given for effort.
Q6A poem uses short, broken lines when describing the hardest part of the climb, then longer, flowing lines once the summit is reached. Give one reason a poet might do this.Show answer
Answer: Short, broken lines can suggest exhaustion and difficulty, while longer, flowing lines afterwards can suggest relief and ease, so the structure itself reflects the change in the climber's experience.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Line: 'My breath comes in ragged, hungry gasps.' Identify the technique used and explain its effect. (2 marks)
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One stanza describes the lower slopes using steady, calm words ('strides', 'settles', 'flows'), while a later stanza describes the final ascent using strained, effortful words ('claws', 'strains', 'gasps'). Explain how this contrast in language affects the reader's understanding of the poem. (4 marks)
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A poem describes the climber near the base of the mountain as 'eager, quick-footed, certain of the way' and at the summit as 'silent, small, humbled by the endless view'. Explain how the poet presents the climber's change across the whole poem, referring to language and structure. (5 marks)
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Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the comprehension: poetry set 4 worksheet pack - 10 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
This topic is chapter 5 of 11+ English Workbook 2, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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